Bolton Defeated in De La Salle Game Marred by Illegal Play

In the opening quarter, the home side pressed hard, testing the Bolton defence, but all Bolton's hard pre-season work seemed to have paid off with a resolute defensive effort, keeping their opponents away from their try line.

Although Bolton were on the back foot for much of the first half, the way they tackled and competed at the breakdown was encouraging. Bolton did show flashes of attacking play with Scrum Half James Singleton and Second Row Matthew Parrish breaking the Del la Salle defensive line on more than one occasion.

Neither side could break the deadlock though and the score was 0-0 at half time.

Bolton started the second half full of confidence, and fully deserved to score the opening try of the match through debutant Rhys Pritchard, who finished supurbly in the corner after some excellent midfield handling.

Instead of spurring Bolton on, the try appeared to galvanise the home side, who almost immediately hit back with a penalty, and a try of their own, as they took a slender 8-5 lead with just over half an hour left.

Bolton then began to lose their defensive shape and line speed, giving De la Salle renewed confidence as they ran in a further three tries and one conversion, leaving a shell-shocked Bolton 25-5 down with ten minutes remaining.

Bolton only had themselves to blame, as they seemed to relax after gaining the lead, and despite Pritchard scoring his second try of the match in the same corner following a great pass from Mike Singleton, there was no time left to get back into the match.

The Cherry and Whites were left to rue missed opportunities in a match the could and should have won. Despite the disapointment, there are positives to take into their next fixture at home to Disdsbury Toc H on Saturday 12th September Kick off 3pm.